Particularly notable about Aether is its focus on texture in place of melody. “I find that melody often functions as a musical equivalent to language, it mimics speech in a certain way that communicates ideas, narratives, and emotion.” This sentiment echoes throughout the album’s four tracks. Just like Bertucci used the bunker as a studio, Metal Aether uses the studio as a major component of the recording. Beyond the bases of environment and timbre, not much else exists in the albums vacuum. In turn, one could call the album minimalist. Dig your fingers deeper into the meditative spaces, and you’ll find almost the opposite to be true.

“I like music where people aren’t conscious of the fact that they’re mixing things up,” Healy explains about his ideals in bending audience expectation. There aren’t many young people that are content with sticking to one genre, so it’s natural that the relatively young Healy is able to stay grounded in a handful of traditions. If you let him get you on his wavelength, ShoutHouse becomes one of New York’s finest interdisciplinary acts.

You want to ask what the band’s contemporaries are. You want to know how they can involve so many people without the project falling apart. You want to know how two of its artists can survive in a school bus.